Wright buckles down to lift Silver Hawks

June 06, 2006|FORREST MILLER Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- An organizational decision to move Kyle Wright into the South Bend Silver Hawks' starting pitching rotation is paying off. Wright's third start of the season, to go along with 12 relief appearances, got off to a bit of a rough start Monday night at Coveleski Stadium, but the 6-foot-3 right-hander said a first-inning home run by Lansing's Anthony Hatch served as motivation. Wright fired 56 strikes among 83 pitches in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked nobody as the Silver Hawks inched above the .500 mark for the first time since April 14 with a 5-1 victory over Midwest League Eastern Division leader Lansing. South Bend's record is now 28-27. Third baseman Steve Mena took care of the offense, driving in two with a fourth-inning single, then blasting his first home run of the season in the eighth. A "Dollar Night" audience announced at 4,699 saw an efficient, errorless game in 2 hours, 18 minutes. The first three innings consumed only 38 minutes. "I don't know how long I'll HAWKS 5, LUGNUTS 1 LANSING SOUTH BEND ab r h bi ab r h bi Heterington cf 4 0 0 0 Ciriaco ss 5 0 1 0 Hatch 2b-3b 3 1 1 1 Septimo rf 4 0 0 0 Patton lf 4 0 0 0 Hendrks lf 5 1 1 1 Pettway rf 4 0 1 0 Byrne 1b 4 1 2 0 Hicks 1b 4 0 1 0 Hendrks lf 4 1 1 0 Bell dh 3 0 0 0 Crouch dh 3 2 1 1 Bormaster c 3 0 0 0 O. Merc c 3 0 1 0 Garibaldi 3b 2 0 0 0 Mena 3b 3 1 2 3 Shoffit 2b 1 0 0 0 Ferrer 2b 3 0 1 1 Gonzalez ss 3 0 1 0 Totals 31 1 4 1 Totals 32 5 9 5 Lansing 100 000 000 -- 1 South Bend 000 301 01x -- 5 LOB -- Lansing 4, South Bend 9. 2B -- Byrne (8). HR -- Hatch (6), Mena (1). SAC -- Septimo. IP H R ER BB SO Lansing Cheng (L, 5-4) 51/3 6 4 4 3 4 Carnline 22/3 3 1 1 2 1 South Bend Wright (W, 3-0) 7 4 1 1 0 7 Newby (S, 2) 2 0 0 0 1 4 T -- 2:18. A -- 4,699. stay in the rotation,'' said Wright, who knows some injuries and rainouts were factors in the decision. "As long as I get my innings, it doesn't matter whether I start or not. I had good success with my fastball inside and was able to change speeds effectively.'' After the second batter of the night, Hatch, hit his sixth homer of the season, the Lugnuts (a Chicago Cubs' affiliate) didn't get a runner to second base the rest of the night. Reliever Kyler Newby struck out four of the seven batters he faced. Lansing starter Chi-Hung Chen, a Taiwan native, allowed a first-inning bloop lead-off single by Pedro Ciriaco, then mowed down the next 11 South Bend batters. Suddenly, with two out in the fourth, it all came apart for Chen. Three consecutive singles -- by Bryan Byrne, Trey Hendricks and Will Crouch produced a run. After Orlando Mercado walked, Mena's single drove in two. "I was down in the count, 0-2, and just tried to put the ball in play,'' said Mena. "I got jammed and was able to make contact.'' Crouch walked in the sixth, advanced on a hit by Mercado, and scored on an unusual single by Manny Ferrer. His chopper to the pitcher went higher than a lot of popups, and Lansing reliever Billy Carnline could do nothing but wait for it to come down. Mena's homer in the eighth wrapped up the scoring. "That's a tribute to the progress Mena has been making,'' said South Bend manager Mark Haley. "He's been working a lot with coach Todd Dunwoody. Mena is always prepared. He's one of our better athletes. That homer was good to see. I'm glad nobody on the left field hill got hurt when that ball came at them.''